1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a headlamp apparatus for vehicles and, more particularly, to a headlamp apparatus for a vehicle which can secure a sufficient field of vision for a driver while inhibiting dazzling of another vehicle's driver due to light from the headlamp apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vehicle is provided with a lamp device which has a lighting function to provide a clear field of vision to a driver of the vehicle in a driving direction at night while informing other drivers or pedestrians of a driving state of the vehicle.
A conventional lamp for vehicles includes a light source, such as a halogen lamp or a high intensity discharge lamp (HID lamp), and a reflective plate which reflects light emitted from the light source in a forward direction.
In addition, the lamp is provided with a lens separate from the reflective plate and the light source. A reflective surface of the reflective plate and the lens are subjected to a process of patterning and coating to provide various functions such as reflection, emission and diffusion of light.
As a result, the conventional lamp has a complicated structure and a large number of components, and requires many manufacturing processes, causing an increase in manufacturing costs.
Recently, a light emitting diode (LED) has been adopted as a light source of a headlight or lamp device for vehicles. That is, an LED light source is adopted in an attempt to solve the problems of the complicated structure and many manufacturing processes of the conventional lamp for vehicles. Specifically, the lifetime of the lamp device can be extended using characteristics of the LED as a light source and space restriction of the lamp device can be overcome by the small size of the LED.
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a conventional headlamp apparatus for vehicles.
Referring to FIG. 1, a headlamp apparatus for vehicles 150 is located under an engine compartment and includes a lamp housing 120 open at a front side thereof. The lamp housing 120 receives a light source 131, a reflective plate 132, and an internal lens 133.
The light source 131 emits light by application of power thereto. The reflective plate 132 is placed behind the light source 131 and reflects light emitted from the light source 131 in a forward direction. The internal lens 133 is located in front of the light source 131 and refracts light to be directed to the outside.
The lamp housing 120 is also provided therein with a cooler which includes cooling fins 134 and a cooling fan 135 to cool the light source 131.
The open side of the lamp housing 120 is covered by an external lens 140. Thus, light from the light source 131 is directly emitted to the outside through the external lens 140 via the internal lens 133 or after being reflected by the reflective plate 132.
It should be noted that the above description is provided for understanding of the background art and is not a description of a well-known technique in the art.
Conventionally, when a headlamp apparatus for vehicles employs LEDs as a light source, the headlamp apparatus includes an upper headlight unit for upward lighting and a lower headlight unit for downward lighting which includes a shielding part to inhibit dazzling of drivers in the approaching lane. As the upper and lower headlight units are installed in a small space of the headlamp apparatus, there is a problem of an increase in the size of the headlamp apparatus and the number of assembly components.
As such, the lighting pattern of the conventional headlamp apparatus is divided into upward lighting and downward lighting. Thus, when the upward lighting is performed to secure driver visibility, drivers in front of the vehicle or approaching in the opposite lane are subjected to glare. On the contrary, when the downward lighting is performed in consideration of the other driver's security, it is difficult to secure driver visibility, thereby causing accidents.
Therefore, there is a need to solve such problems.